Positive/Negativity (21 page)

Marisol kept it together long enough for the session to wrap up early. That should have been my first clue that she had an ulterior motive.

I had excused myself from speaking with Jonatan and gone to my room. Upon reviewing the e-mails from Paige at length, I realized to what degree I had underestimated Aria.

The photos of the building were awesome, as were the details of the square footage, etc. What I truly regretted was discounting how carefully my girl had listened to each and every detail as I described the way I wanted this project to appear. It was those sketches that caught my attention most of all.

Paige had scanned and e-mailed Aria’s roughly sketched vision of my description to her of the studio space. Every thought I had shared with her, she held as a mental note and had taken it into account. The drawings with those ideas were in front of me. I was looking at my future business as envisioned by her. They truly were incredible, and I could see her attention to detail reflected, as well as her skills. I felt like an ass that I didn’t trust her with this. The only hope I had was that I had something going for me that her clients didn’t—
I loved her
. Somehow, I had to make her realize that I was sorry and at the same time try to explain how overwhelmed I felt when she announced to me what she had done.

I closed the laptop and went downstairs to the restaurant bar to get a drink and think, knowing I could figure this out.

“Yes, Mr. Michaels. It sounds like it will be exactly what I’m looking for.” “Yes.” “Garnet.” “Thank you.” “Send the information to my e-mail address, and I will phone you to confirm.” “Thank you.”

I had concluded a telephone conversation with Harris Michaels, a business colleague of mine on the Eastern Shore. My headache had subsided once I had eaten some food, and I was sitting back to enjoy my drink. Overall, I was starting to feel that I could repair the damage I’d done in this situation with Aria. The hotel restaurant wasn’t quite busy, so I leaned back for a moment and just closed my eyes…
TT

“Why do you act like you dislike me so?” I heard Marisol say.

I opened my eyes and saw that she had seated herself across from me.

“I neither like nor dislike you, Marisol. I merely work with you.”

I was certain to place my smile on my face to ensure that she had no idea to what extent she irritated me.

She purred like a sex kitten, “You used to like me so much, Declan, but now that you are with that little girl, you never have time to go to parties, events, or shows. No one ever sees us together anymore. It makes me sad—”

“Marisol, no one sees
us
together anymore because there was never an “us” for anyone to see. We were photographed together merely because we happened to share space at the same events at the same time.”

“No, lover. It was more than that. You liked when I came up to you and put my arm through yours, or you put your arm around my waist when we would go to parties or to clients’ homes. They would take our pictures. I would cut out those pictures for my book, and I saw the look on your face. You were happy with me. You liked me. I know you wanted to have sex with me the night of the party, and I know you were disappointed because you had to leave.” She began rubbing up and down my arm as she continued, “I’d be the best you ever had, baby. These lips were made for sucking, and this tongue was made for licking”—she licked her lips—“I’ve seen you at the sessions, and I know how big you are. I could take you all night long, baby…
any way you want me
,” Marisol said cunningly.

I know I was still smiling because I didn’t want to betray the thought that I was looking into the face of a completely delusional woman. It took me about sixty seconds; then I leaned forward to get closer to her face.

“Marisol,
ba-by
, I want you to listen to my words. We were
never
a ‘we’. If there was an impression that we were a couple, it was because the tabloids spun it that way to sell their magazines. We only shared space at the same functions because we
work
together. That’s all.” I kept my composure, still smiling, and got a little closer to her face so that I could keep my voice down, but get my point across. “As far as the sex, the fact that it
never
happened didn’t disappoint me at all. In fact, I wouldn’t want your lips and tongue around my pole if it was on fire! As far as ‘
any way
I want you?’ How about
the hell out of my sight!
”

I was so disgusted with her that I pushed my chair out, threw the money on the table, and left the restaurant to go to my room. My intent was to wipe that smile off of her face.

Marisol knew it was just a matter of time before Declan grew tired with the beach trash. She also knew that the public persona of Declan and Marisol as a couple needed to remain current. His little outburst should have served to take the smile off of her face, but she maintained her outward appearance because she knew anyone could be watching.

…and while the photographer quietly left the restaurant, he was satisfied that he had captured the photos of Mr. Sinclair and Ms. Franzi that she requested of him…

T
Right to be Wrong – Joss Stone

TT
Fragile – Sting

“Carter, I screwed up royally,” I said.

“Now you have to decide what you’re going to do about it, Dec. There’s no middle ground here,” Carter told me, and he was right. “I’ve never seen you so twisted over a woman before. I guess that’s a good thing, you know? You’ve never let anyone get close; just me and Mom.”

My brother had hit the nail on the head. I never did let anyone get close. This “thing” with Aria wasn’t a “thing” at all. It was more—so much more. Carter knew that. He was the only person that knew me—really knew me. Aria was the next closest person I had to Carter. I was just starting to realize it, and Carter realized it too.

“Groveling and gifts are always good, Declan.” Carter laughed into the phone.

“Yeah, I’ve already thought of that. Aria still should have consulted me.”

“She said she tried to call you, Declan. Are you going to keep beating a ‘dead horse’ about that?”

I heard Lacey in the background. “Ok, guys, enough of this. Put this phone on FaceTime,” Lacey said, so we did.

It was good to see my family. I didn’t know why we didn’t FaceTime more. Lacey was sitting half on Carter’s lap, half on the sofa, and he had his arm draped casually around her. I could see Cody, their Bernese Mountain Dog, coming around to the front of them to lay right at their feet. She wanted in on the phone action as well.
T

“Hi, everyone,” I said.

“Hi, sweetie,” Lacey said, taking over the conversation. “Declan, I know you don’t have much time, so I’m going to make this as brief, concise, and as clear for you as I can.
You
have to make this right. I heard everything that you said to Carter. I know all about the building for your studio, how Aria bought it, and how she should have waited for you, yadda, yadda, yadda…”—Lacey waved her hands in the air to make her point—“What you need to know is this—she did it because she
loves
you. No woman—and I mean
no woman
—would ever put that much on the line for someone she simply cares about;
ever
. You, baby brother, are behaving like a school boy. I should know; I teach enough of them. I can only tell you that I know how I’d feel if I were Aria—hurt and insulted. She stuck her neck out on the line for you and for your dream business. It most likely took her far out of her comfort zone to do that, and you hurt her deeply when you reacted in the way you did. That was on a
“man to woman”
level.”

“On a business level, we’re speaking of an entirely different matter. Think of how you would have felt to hear the words you directed at her. You completely devalued her as a businesswoman by underestimating her abilities as a negotiator to act accordingly on your behalf. You say you love her! You would have given a realtor, whom you barely knew, more consideration than you gave Aria?! You know how she feels about you. She’d only have your best interests at heart, and she’d
never
risk everything that she has invested into her business, financial and personal, for someone that she wasn’t seriously invested in; and you know what I mean by that. You also completely disregarded her natural, creative talent. When you first started dating her, I looked her up on the internet. Have you seen her work? It’s incredible! That woman is very gifted creatively. She has taken dung heaps and made them into palaces! Then you told her that the reason why she had her business and why it was profitable was because
her dad
helped her—again, insulting her. Do you see how childish, selfish, and petty you appeared to her?” Lacey had valid points.

“Yes…” I said. She was doing a good job at making me feel like an unappreciative child.

I was filled with anguish at the extent of the hurt I caused Aria at that moment. It made me feel miserable. Even Carter looked like he felt terrible. Lacey, in her “not-so-subtle” way, was insisting that we mere men needed to listen to her to feel
“a woman’s heart”
for insight in this situation. After the tongue lashing she dished out, she gave us all a moment to breathe.